Healing, Joy, & ADHD Beyond Mormonism - David Bokovoy Pt. 4 | Ep. 1878

Healing Beyond Faith: How ADHD, Therapy, and Secular Purpose Reshape Lives After Mormonism

When David Bokovoy left the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he discovered something unexpected: the spiritual experiences he'd attributed to divine witness could resurface through entirely different means. His journey, detailed in the Mormon Stories Podcast episode "Healing, Joy, & ADHD Beyond Mormonism", challenges a common assumption among believing Mormons and faith-crisis survivors alike: that joy, purpose, and transcendent feeling belong exclusively to organized religion. For those navigating faith transitions, ADHD diagnoses, or identity reconstruction, Bokovoy's experience offers a documented case study in how meaning can be rebuilt outside religious frameworks.

Understanding the Faith-to-Healing Transition

Bokovoy's departure from Mormonism was neither sudden nor painless. According to the Mormon Stories Podcast episode, his crisis of faith crystallized around historical and scriptural issues, areas where his scholarship as a religious educator collided with official Church narratives. Yet the deeper loss came from institutional rejection: BYU's decision not to hire him created what he describes as "the most difficult thing I'd ever gone through" at that time.

What makes his story relevant to contemporary discussions about faith transitions is not the theological departure itself, but what followed it. Many who leave high-control religions report a void, the loss of community, purpose, and the emotional experiences they'd framed as spiritual confirmation. Bokovoy's narrative diverges here. Rather than replacing religious meaning with emptiness or cynicism, he discovered both psychological support and renewed purpose through three specific channels: Therapeutic intervention, He sought out a skilled therapist during his crisis period Community support, He reached out to trusted friends rather than relying solely on institutional structures Vocational reorientation, He eventually moved into chaplaincy work in a correctional facility

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